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Scope: Fermentation improves many food characteristics using microbes, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Recent studies suggest fermentation may also enhance the health properties, but mechanistic evidence is lacking. We aimed to identify a metabolite pattern reproducibly produced during sourdough and in vitro colonic fermentation of various whole-grain rye products and how it affects the growth of bacterial species of potential importance to health and disease.

Methods and results: We used Lactiplantibacillus plantarum DSMZ 13890 strain, previously shown to favour rye as its substrate. Using LC-MS metabolomics, we found seven microbial metabolites commonly produced during the fermentations, including dihydroferulic acid, dihydrocaffeic acid, and five amino acid metabolites, and stronger inhibition was achieved when exposing the bacteria to a mixture of the metabolites in vitro compared to individual compound exposures.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that metabolites produced by LAB may synergistically modulate the local microbial ecology, such as in the gut. This could provide new hypotheses on how fermented foods influence human health via diet–microbiota interactions.